1) All data and information relating to customers’ accounts, deposits, safe deposit boxes and trusts with Licensed Financial Institutions and related transactions shall be considered confidential in nature, and may not be perused, or directly or indirectly disclosed to any third party without the written permission of owner of the account or deposit, his legal attorney or authorized agent, and in legally authorized cases.

2) Such prohibition shall remain valid, even until end of the business relationship between the customer and the Licensed Financial Institution for any reason.

3) Chairmen and members of boards of directors, managers and employees of Licensed Financial Institutions, and experts, consultants and technicians assigned to perform functions therein, are prohibited from disclosing any information or data on their customers; their accounts or deposits or transactions relating thereto, or enable third parties to peruse them, except in legally authorized cases.

4) Such prohibition shall apply to all agencies and Persons, and whoever, by virtue of his profession, position or nature of work, is able to, directly or indirectly, peruse such information and data.

5) The Central Bank shall establish rules and conditions organizing exchange of banking and credit information, in its capacity as the competent Regulatory Authority in the State in this regard.

6) The provisions of item nos. (1) and (2) of this article shall be without prejudice to the following:

• a. The powers legally vested on security and judicial authorities, the Central Bank and its employees.
• b. The duties assigned to auditors of accounts of the concerned institutions.
• c. The obligation of the concerned institutions to issue, upon request of the beneficiary, a certificate of the reasons for declining to cash a check.
• d. The obligation of the concerned institutions to issue a certificate of partial payment of value of a check, where the consideration for payment is less than the value of the check, pursuant to the provisions of the referenced Commercial Transactions Law.
• e. The right of the concerned institutions to disclose whole or part of the data relating to the customer’s transactions, in order to establish its right in a legal dispute in respect of such transactions, with its customer.
• f. Provisions of established laws and international agreements in the State, in addition to anti-money laundering, terrorist financing and illegal organizations provisions